No one can ever say that Cliff and Jack don't have luck on their shoulders.
After leaving impound and making their return run, the chute deployed prematurely due to a spring working loose on the mercury switch. "No Worries, Mate", as our New Zealand crewman Nick Bilton would say, as the Quarter plus Mile 1 and 2 were all that was needed to establish a new record at 219.097 MPH.
Cliff commented that it was a much different feeling when you pull the chute handle and know the lunge is coming, than to just have it happen and surprise you when it catches......
Nonetheless, this one is in the books, and they promptly set about correcting the switch problem so that the chute will not deploy early. Once that was completed, they setup the liner and got in line to make an initial run in the Motorcycle Streamliner 500cc Fuel Class.
Todays record tops the original record set by legend, Don Vesco in 1976 at 195.282 MPH, and raises the bar 23.815 MPH.
The 500cc Fuel record was set by Jess Thomas, when he was just 18 years old. That was in 1958, and he ran 212.288MPH to set the record.
Jack and Cliff approach these venerable records with great respect.
We wish them the best of luck in their endeavor!
